Principles of data visualization

MACS 40700 University of Chicago

Basic data structures

  • Data type
  • Dataset type

Data types

  • Attribute
  • Item
  • Link
  • Grid
  • Position

Dataset types

Source: Visualization Analysis and Design. Tamara Munzner, with illustrations by Eamonn Maguire. A K Peters Visualization Series, CRC Press, 2014.

Source: Visualization Analysis and Design. Tamara Munzner, with illustrations by Eamonn Maguire. A K Peters Visualization Series, CRC Press, 2014.

Tables

  • Flat table
    • Each row is an item
    • Each column is an attribute
    • Each cell is a value fully specified by the combination of row and column
  • Multidimensional table

Networks

A small example network with eight vertices and ten edges. Source: Wikipedia

Trees

Organization, mission, and functions manual: Civil Rights Division. Source: U.S. Department of Justice

Fields

Source: NASA Earth Observatory

Geometry

  • Shape of items with explicit spatial positions
  • 0D
  • 1D
  • 2D
  • 3D
  • Maps

Attribute types

Source: Visualization Analysis and Design. Tamara Munzner, with illustrations by Eamonn Maguire. A K Peters Visualization Series, CRC Press, 2014.

Semantics

  • Type vs. semantic
  • Key vs. value
ID \(N\) \(\bar{X}\) \(\bar{Y}\) \(\sigma_{X}\) \(\sigma_{Y}\) \(R\)
1 142 54.26327 47.83225 16.76514 26.93540 -0.0644719
2 142 54.26610 47.83472 16.76983 26.93974 -0.0641284
3 142 54.26144 47.83025 16.76590 26.93988 -0.0617148
4 142 54.26993 47.83699 16.76996 26.93768 -0.0694456
5 142 54.26015 47.83972 16.76996 26.93000 -0.0655833
6 142 54.26734 47.83955 16.76896 26.93027 -0.0629611
7 142 54.26881 47.83545 16.76670 26.94000 -0.0685042
8 142 54.26030 47.83983 16.76774 26.93019 -0.0603414
9 142 54.26732 47.83772 16.76001 26.93004 -0.0683434
10 142 54.26873 47.83082 16.76924 26.93573 -0.0685864
11 142 54.26588 47.83150 16.76885 26.93861 -0.0686092
12 142 54.26785 47.83590 16.76676 26.93610 -0.0689797
13 142 54.26692 47.83160 16.77000 26.93790 -0.0665752

Marks

Source: Visualization Analysis and Design. Tamara Munzner, with illustrations by Eamonn Maguire. A K Peters Visualization Series, CRC Press, 2014.

Channels

Source: Visualization Analysis and Design. Tamara Munzner, with illustrations by Eamonn Maguire. A K Peters Visualization Series, CRC Press, 2014.

How to pick an appropriate graph

  1. Think about the task or tasks you want to enable
  2. Try different graphic forms
  3. Arrange the components of the graphic
  4. Test the outcomes

What is the story?

Source: The Truthful Art: Data, charts, and maps for communication. Alberto Cairo. New Riders, 2016.

Basic charts

Histogram

Density plot

Box-and-whisker plot

Box-and-whisker plot

Bar chart

Grouped bar chart

Box plot

Violin plot

Scatterplot

Scatterplot

Line graph

Line graph

Grouped line charts

Network diagram

Network diagram

Heatmap

Heatmap

Stacked bar chart

Bubble chart

The Wealth & Health of Nations

Proportional area chart

Pie chart

Donut chart